until we go down | bellamy blake

chapter xv.

MARCUS KANE

THE EXODUS ship was long gone, leaving the Ark lost without power and faster depleting oxygen. I had managed to find survivors, all of them crowded around ventilation shafts and barely breathing.

Cooled air circulating through the vents led me to believe that there was someone alive in Earth Monitoring. I needed to save them; I needed to save as many people as I could. Wick was able to patch through the intercom system and relay a message to those who could be inside.

Chancellor Jaha responded quickly. "Kane, Sinclair is rerouting oxygen and power to the mess hall before our oxygen runs out. Any survivors must make their way there."

"I'm not leaving you to die." I relayed back through the intercom.

"As your Chancellor, I am ordering you to save as many survivors as you can and lead them to the mess hall," His breathing was severely labored. "Jaha out."

I ordered Wick to lead the dozen we had to the mess hall before organizing a search by station. He didn't argue with me as I turned and examined the blockage into Earth Monitoring, where Jaha and Sinclair were slowly dying.

"The Chancellor is right. This whole deck is an electrical fire waiting to happen, we need to get out of here." I begged him to lead the survivors out of here. "So, what, you're going to save everybody here but yourself?"

"No one else can die because of me," I whispered, remembering those three hundred in the culling and those who didn't survive the Unity day explosion. Remembering my mother and the one hundred kids we sent to Earth, one of them, my daughter. "Get yourselves to safety." I ordered.

I tugged at the metal bars blocking the doors to Earth Monitoring and Wick stood beside me, pulling with me. A few of the other survivors grabbed ahold of the debris and we pulled as hard as we could.

With the group of us, we managed to free the bay doors and get into the monitor room. I rushed in, carrying a briefcase of oxygen masks and immediately kneeling at Jaha's side.

"Everyone gets oxygen!" I shouted at the others that had rushed in to help those that were trapped.

~

"Sir, I found something." Wick grabbed our attention as I was discussing with Jaha how many survivors we could be looking for.

"What is it?"

"I was looking at the data from the Exodus launch and it appears the service hatch was manually sealed before the launch from our side." For the hatch to have been sealed from our side, there would have had to be someone in the service bay.

"Could that mean survivors?" Jaha questioned. "People jumping ship at the last moment?"

The scenario seemed too odd; especially with Sydney leading the breach. "Maybe Sydney threw them off? Maybe they were a threat?" I inserted, it being the most likely scenario. "Could they still be alive?"

Sinclair had doubts, but Wick was certain they could be alive for a short period longer. The only way to get to those in the service bay was through the maintenance shaft, but I had to try.

Even if I didn't make it, none of this was for me. It was time to forget orders and do what was morally right. Even if I never get to meet my daughter.